I will continue tweeting, says Tharoor

His tweets on a social networking website might have got him into trouble but Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has refused to stop tweeting.

Describing tweeting as “an innovative medium of communication,” Tharoor said, “Barack Obama uses it, Hillary Clinton used it while she was in Delhi and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd does it."

“So, twitter will continue and I will not exercise self-censorship but some moderation,” he said in an interview to India Today magazine.

Mr. Tharoor got into trouble with his party for his “cattle class” remarks which he used to describe travelling in economy class on the ‘www.twitter.com’ As part of austerity drive, the Congress party has asked all its ministers to travel economy.

Asked if he was disappointed that his party spokespersons rebuked him, Mr. Tharoor said, “of course. I was disappointed as I had come here to make a difference.”

He also asserted that he made “serious financial” as well as “emotional sacrifice” to join politics. “At the cost of being blunt, I will have to say that I have made a serious financial sacrifice. I left a well-paying corporate job and gave up my speaking fees, which were generous ... Secondly, it has been an emotional sacrifice, I am far away from my wife.”

On his stay at Taj hotel as a Minister, Mr. Tharoor said he paid his own bills through a credit card, contrary to the reports that it was paid by a Dubai-based company named Afras.